Then again, I've playing with the idea of getting a used savage muzzleloader and installing a 34" barrel on it. This would be easy to do since I have a wrench and barrel blocks for a switch barrel savage that I'm working on now. Something to think about.

Ronnie

__________________
Spent thousands on long range gear only to take a mule deer at 128 yards.....

They just blew one of those Savages up (same website). Personally if I had a smokeless ML I'd stay away from pushing it as I don't trust the technology yet.
You can do pretty good with Triple 7 powder. As soon as I finish pillar bedding my Omega in a couple weeks I'm going to attempt to tune up a 500 yard load. 300 was a piece of cake. For hunting deer-sized game you're pretty much limited to 400 yards, even with smokeless, because the bullets aren't efficient enough to carry sufficient energy that far.